The US telecoms regulator announced yesterday that it had started its review of US telco AT&T’s acquisition of mobile operator T-Mobile USA for US$39bn. The FCC issued a short statement yesterday saying that it had opened the docket for the deal, but…
The US telecoms regulator announced yesterday that it had started its review of US telco AT&T’s acquisition of mobile operator T-Mobile USA for US$39bn.
The FCC issued a short statement yesterday saying that it had opened the docket for the deal, but without offering any further details.
According to the Washington Post, the FCC said in a later conference call that it would be looking to see if the merger was in the public interest, particularly with regard to competition in the market in the short and long term.
Spectrum allocation and the effects of the deal on consumers will also reportedly be considered.
These represented the first responses of the FCC to the deal, which was first announced on 20 March.
The two companies involved are also set to file their paperwork with the FCC next week, according to media reports.
Reuters reported yesterday that AT&T and T-Mobile would file their documents on 21 April.
In the weeks since the deal was announced, there has been fierce debate in the US over this deal’s effects on competition.
When the deal was announced, AT&T claimed that the “US wireless industry is one of the most fiercely competitive markets in the world and it will remain so after this deal.”
Its critics claim that if the deal were approved, the US market would become an effective “duopoly” in which two companies, the new combined AT&.T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, will control around 80% of the US mobile market.
